Desegregation and the Historically Black High School: The Establishment of Howard W. Blake in Tampa,Florida

This article examines a grassroots movement among African-Americans to reestablish Howard W. Blake High School, named for a historically black high school closed during the desegregation process in Tampa, Florida. The establishment of Blake High School was contentious, involving negotiations by multiple and conflicting interests—school officials, black leaders, alumni of the historically black high schools that had existed prior to desegregation, the federal judge overseeing the 1971 desegregation order, and civil rights leaders. Analyzing the debates over Blake's status as a magnet, its location, and its attendance zone, this article highlights the paradox of desegregation for African-American communities in Tampa. This case reveals the tension between the desire for community schooling and the consequences of resegregation.     

Parent Resource Centers: An Innovative Mechanism for Parental Involvement in School Choice Decisions

This qualitative investigation reports on the use of Parent Resource Centers (PRCs) as a mechanism for parental involvement in public school choice decisions. Interviews with parents and staff at seven PRCs in Florida revealed that PRCs employ multiple strategies to communicate choice information to parents: community-, school- and media-based outreach; outreach to hard-to-reach parents; and collaboration with other agencies. Personalized assistance and provision of choice materials are also highlighted as useful strategies. Results indicate that there is low level of awareness about school choice options among parents and thus clear and consistent communication of choice information is needed. While PRCs hold promise for increasing parental engagement in school choice, structural and systemic barriers to exercising choice decisions such as transportation and collaboration between schools and PRCs should be addressed. Methodologically, this study illustrates the power of triangulating data from parents and PRCs to illuminate our understanding of how parents make choice decisions.     

Parental Involvement as a Protective Factor During the Transition to High School

ABSTRACT

The authors investigated whether student-perceived parental involvement predicts improvement in academic, behavioral, and relational outcomes for low-achieving adolescents. With a sample of 59 racially diverse 9th-grade students, the authors measured 3 dimensions of parental involvement: direct participation, academic encouragement, and expectations for grades and attainment. Analyses revealed associations between 2 types of parental involvement and outcomes, which held after considering student gender and race. Students whose parents had higher expectations about grades and attainment had higher grade point averages and were rated as more academically engaged by their teachers. Students who reported that their parents were more academically encouraging experienced more care from their teachers. Results suggest certain types of parental involvement may be more effective than others in supporting low-achieving adolescents’ school performance.     

The Experiences of Low-Income Latina/o Families in an Urban Voucher,Parochial School

Catholic schools have become a popular choice for many low income families Latino/a families. Families enrollment in these schools are often faced with the mandate to participate. However, regardless of the mandate, some schools often experience low parental participation. The purpose of this study is to document the experiences of low income, Latino/a families around parental involvement in hopes of understanding the reasoning for participating (or not) in their child’s school. The researchers conclude that families do not participate for a number of reasons including lack of opportunities, and an unwelcoming environment. The implications for Latina/o urban education are discussed.     

Classroom Learning Environments in Urban Elementary,Middle, and High Schools

The purpose of the present study was to investigate student gender, subject area, and grade level differences in students' perceptions of their classroom learning environment. Over 13,000 students from 96 urban elementary, middle, and high schools that served predominantly minority students completed a modified version of the Classroom Environment Scale (CES) and the Instructional Learning Environment Questionnaire (ILEQ). Female students generally reported higher scores for their perceptions of the learning environment than did male students. There were very few differences by subject area, but there were many statistically and educationally significant differences by grade level. In general, middle school classes had less favorable perceptions of their learning environment than did either elementary or high school classes.     

Longitudinal literacy professional development in an urban elementary charter school

The authors describe a school-university professional development partnership in a high-needs urban elementary charter school. University and school partners collaborated to build instructional capacity to develop teachers’ understanding and implementation of effective literacy instruction. Design-based research revealed increased understanding and implementation of effective literacy practices among school leaders and teachers. Findings revealed the importance of administrative stability; coaching support; and a focused, school-wide instructional vision.     

父母教育期望与留守儿童的学习投入:父母教育卷入和自我教育期望的中介作用

为系统考察父母教育期望与留守儿童学习投入的关系,以及父母教育卷入和自我教育期望在其中的双重中介作用,采用父母教育期望问卷、自我教育期望问卷、父母教育卷入问卷以及学习投入问卷,对我国河南、四川、贵州、山西等地1535名留守儿童进行了调查研究。结果发现:(1)单亲外出和双亲外出留守儿童知觉到的父母教育期望、自我教育期望、父母教育卷入和学习投入得分均显著低于非留守儿童,而单亲外出和双亲外出留守儿童之间差异未达显著性水平;(2)父母教育期望和留守儿童学习投入呈显著正相关关系;(3)父母教育卷入与自我教育期望在父母教育期望和留守儿童学习投入之间起到双重中介作用。因此,父母教育期望既直接影响留守儿童的学习投入,又通过父母教育卷入和自我教育期望的中介作用影响留守儿童的学习投入。     

Stereotype Threat Effects on African American Children in an Urban Elementary School

This study investigated whether a diagnostic testing condition leads to stereotype threat effects for African American children (n = 198) at an urban elementary school. Results indicated that presenting a reading test as diagnostic of abilities hindered the performance of African American children aware of racial stereotypes but not of those unaware of such stereotypes. For stereotype-aware children, the effect of stereotype threat on performance was moderated by level of domain identification such that the effects were most pronounced among children placing greater value on achievement. In addition, domain identification contributed to greater anxiety and lower self-efficacy, suggesting that it is a primary vulnerability factor for stereotype threat effects. Implications for educational equity are discussed, as well as suggestions for developing interventions capable of attenuating stereotype threat effects among children.     

北京市孤独症儿童早期干预中家长参与情况及其影响因素

本研究采用自编问卷调查北京市孤独症儿童早期干预中家长的参与态度和行为,并初步探讨其可能的影响因素。研究调查了三所有代表性的孤独症康复中心和一所医院的47名家长,结果表明,在孤独症儿童的早期干预中,家长参与态度较积极(M=3.77),但行为频率较低(M=1.75),参与效能感也比较低(M=1.81)。很多因素影响着家长的孤独症知识水平,但影响家长参与的因素较少;只有家长学历、家庭收入和孩子是否参与过ABA(应用行为分析)这三个因素。     

小学生父母教育卷入行为理论模型的建构与验证

基于我国特定的教育文化背景,整合已有理论和实证研究,提出了小学生父母教育卷入行为结构的理论模型。通过家长访谈、专家评定,对该模型进行了完善,并据此编制了家长报告问卷加以验证。对965位小学生家长所填问卷进行分析后,形成小学生父母教育卷入行为问卷(父母回答版)。问卷共29个项目,包括了五个维度,分别为:家庭监控,指父母对子女学习、生活及交往等的监督、控制行为;学业辅导,指家长按照教师要求或自行在家中对子女的学习进行辅导的行为;亲子沟通,指家长在日常生活中就子女学习、生活、交往以及学校事务进行沟通和交流的行为,以达到共同理解、信任的过程;共同活动,指为开阔视野、促进身心发展,家长与孩子共同进行的一些文体、社会实践活动等;家校沟通,指家长为了获取子女在校表现的信息和了解学校当前进行的工作而进行的家校之间的沟通与交流。经过探索性因素分析和交叉验证分析,问卷的结构与理论模型拟合较好,能够作为考察我国小学生父母教育卷入行为的测量工具。     

Students' Use of Time Outside of School: A Case for After School Programs for Urban Middle School Youth

Students in 4 inner-city middle schools serving mostly (90.9%) economically disadvantaged, minority youth were asked how they spend their time after school and on weekends. Analysis of responses from 1583 students revealed that the vast majority did not participate in after-school programs (77.2%) or lessons of any kind (86.5%). Students reported extensive time spent watching television or hanging out with friends. Weekends presented a similar pattern of unstructured social activity with even more television viewing and considerably less homework. Four-way ANOVAs of 13 composite time measures for a week revealed no significant school differences, only 2 significant grade differences, but several interesting and highly significant differences by sex and by race. Implications for designing after school programs are discussed in light of the students' highly unproductive use of time outside of school.     

School Choice: The Personal and the Political

Enrollment in school choice programs is growing, so is overall support for school choice. Many have analyzed what demographic characteristics impact attitudes towards school choice. This article adds to the literature by exploring the interaction between personal decisions regarding school choice and broader support for school choice programs. Focus groups were conducted in St. Louis and Kansas City with 35 parents of school-age children. Participant responses indicate that school choice programs illicit mixed emotions from parents. Most participants personally support school choice and exercise choice themselves by sending their children to magnet, charter, or private schools. At the same time, they have reservations about broader school choice programs. As Schelling (1978) suggests, these individuals act in their own self-interest despite the impact it might have on the aggregate. More to the point, they are willing to express choice themselves, but deny it to others.     

Parental Experiences and Beliefs Regarding Inclusive Placements of their Special Needs Children

Parents of children with special needs face many challenges. One of the challenges is the placement of their children in inclusive early childhood education settings. This article explores these challenges and offers practical suggestions regarding the involvement and support of parents of children with special needs in the placement of their children in appropriate educational settings.     

低收入家长投入早期教育的若干问题探析

家长投入在儿童发展早期阶段具有丰富内涵,包括在家庭、学校、社区合作的情境下家长对早期儿童教育所做的一切贡献。家长投入对儿童,特别是低收入家庭儿童发展的积极意义主要表现在缓冲贫困的消极影响、促进儿童学业成功、改善家庭系统等方面。但低收入家长的投入方式、特点通常与教师预期不一致,其投入教育的动机与信念较弱,缺乏投入子女教育的机会和资源等,都阻碍了低收入家长投入。为此,需要教师、学校与政府将低收入家长作为支持儿童发展的重要资源看待,增强对低收入家庭特点的敏感度,采取适宜的多样化支持策略,与低收入家长建立真正平等的合作关系,共同促进处境不利儿童早期发展。     

Bang for the Buck: Autonomy and Charter School Efficiency in Milwaukee

Charter schools are a relatively new phenomenon in American education. Since the first charter school opened in Minnesota in 1991, they have expanded to 42 states and represent 6.2% of all public schools in the country.¹ This growth has been attributed to a number of factors, chief among them evidence that charter schools can improve performance (Lamdin and Mintrom, 1997). While there is a substantial evidence for relative performance benefits of charter schooling (e.g. CREDO, 2015) far less research been conducted on the efficiency of charter schools relative to traditional public schools. What research there is has produced both positive (e.g. Wolf et. al., 2014) and negative results (e.g. Carpenter and Noller, 2010). What can account for the disparity in these findings? In this paper, I make the case that differences in charter efficiency may be accounted for by differences in their level of autonomy from the school district. I base this argument on economic theories that the devolution of power to the lowest level possible tends to produce gains in efficiency (Johnson, 1991; Duncombe and Yinger, 1997). Those that are “on the ground” are thought to be more effective at monitoring expenditures, and allocations of resources have to pass through less ‘red tape (Hess 2006).’ In addition, more autonomous charter schools better fit the original purpose of charter schools in devolving power from centralized authorities (Budde, 1996). In order to test this theory, I take advantage of a unique situation that exists in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in which three types of charter schools with varying levels of autonomy operate simultaneously. Using school type as a proxy for autonomy, I find that more independent charter schools are more efficient than traditional public schools and charter schools with less autonomy.     

The Need to Distinguish Between Quantity and Quality in Research on Parental Involvement: The Example of Parental Help With Homework

ABSTRACT

Parental involvement research has greatly expanded over the past decade, but findings are mixed, reflecting in part the conceptual and methodological limitations of many studies. On the basis of longitudinal questionnaire data from 1,685 sixth-grade students, the authors studied parental help with homework because it is the most common and most controversial type of parental involvement. Distinguishing between the quantity and quality of parental homework involvement, the research shows that completely different conclusions about the effectiveness of parental homework involvement will be reached if its quantity is assessed instead of its quality: How often parents helped with homework was negatively associated with the development of achievement, whereas homework help that was perceived as supportive had positive predictive effects, and homework help perceived as intrusive had negative effects. Moreover, the results show that effect sizes would be overestimated if students' prior achievement and family background were not controlled.     

上海市特殊儿童家长参与子女早期教育的现状调查

特殊儿童家长参与子女早期教育具有重要意义.对上海市特殊儿童家长参与子女早期教育的态度、现状和方式进行问卷调查和个别访谈后发现,目前存在着对家长参与的认识不到位、参与现状的总体水平较低、极少参与学校行政、信息化手段使用较少等问题.因此,采取一系列措施使家长更有效地参与到特殊儿童的早期教育中尤为重要.     

促进家长参与家校合作的国际经验及启示

有效的家校合作离不开家长参与,如何提升家长参与家校合作的积极性和有效性是我国教育中的重要问题。我国家长参与家校合作仍在起步阶段,面临积极性不高、方式单一和效果有待提升、不同家庭间差异较大等现实困境。鉴于家长参与家校合作的重要意义和我国目前面临的困境,该文基于国际经验,对我国如何促进家长参与家校合作提出了建议:构建和发展本土化家长参与的实践模式;根据不同家庭情况转变“以学校为中心”的工作思路;以及结合教师专业发展提升其引导家长参与的能力和动机。     

Parental Involvement,Instructional Expenditures,Family Socioeconomic Attributes,and Student Achievement

Abstract

The influence of parental involvement, socioeconomic status of parents, and instructional supplies expenditures on mathematics achievement scores of Grade 4 students in a low-income county in North Carolina were examined. An educational production function framework was used to analyze the influence of educational resources on mathematics achievement scores. Pearson product-moment correlation and ordinary least squares regression were used to determine the overall strength of each relation and the variables with the greatest impact on mathematics achievement. Results indicated that instructional supplies expenditures per pupil and parental volunteer hours were not statistically significant in explaining mathematics test scores. Furthermore, results showed that the percentage of students in free/reduced-price lunch programs was related negatively to students' academic performance in mathematics. This finding supports the notion that economic circumstances are correlated with academic achievement.